By Emily Nicolle on Thursday 23 November 2017
Bud has struck a deal with the money transfer service, the latest in a string of high-profile partnerships.
Under the new deal, Bud users will be able to use Western Union’s money transfer services in app. It marks the latest integration for the mobile platform, having announced an exclusive partnership with travel rewards firm Avios earlier this month.
The news was revealed to delegates at the Fintech World Forum in London yesterday by Christina Hamilton, vice president of partnerships and international expansion at Western Union.
The Bud dashboard already features integrations with Barclays, HSBC, First Direct, American Express, Nutmeg, Zopa and beyond. Users can view and interact with all of these services through the Bud portal.
"Our strategy is to partner with major brands," said Bud’s head of awareness Jamie Campbell, speaking on the sidelines at the conference.
"Customers tend to be much more comfortable dealing with large, trusted institutions than with unknown fintechs. The deal with HSBC is the first one that we've done with a large distribution partner so far. We can provide a better service, but the bank gets to keep the customer and can even attract new ones."
Bud is yet another example of the recent boom in UK fintech firms embracing Open Banking as PSD2 looms in January. This partnership with Western Union, however, is an indicator of how some of the older players in the business are beginning to wise up to the opportunities provided by the new regulations.
Hamilton revealed that Western Union is also focusing on striking deals with incumbent banks in the near future, in order to provide an outsourcing of “high volume, low value” transactions like international payments and the sending of remittances.
